June in tea country.

Big boss man (Taku-chan) went to Japan earlier this month to hang out with the tea farm gang.

June at our tea farms, is essentially, a relief... Because the new crop tea has been picked, shipped, and sold. It's very hot and humid, but it's also very peaceful.

He took some nice photos, so I thought that it'd be nice to post them...

These are photographic evidence that Japan is NOT like what most people think (re: Tokyo nightscape, Harajuku girls, bullet trains, monsters). That stuff only happens in the big city... Okay, I lied about the monsters.

Countryside = old buildings.

This particular ryokan (a traditional bed & breakfast) that he stayed in, it's seriously spectacularly old.

So old that they still have fire pits (oh, how 19th century!) and tetsubins (cast iron tea pot).

So old, they still have paper doors.

Annnnd, it's so old that they still preserve their own food. It's slow food/locavorism at its finest, Alice Waters would be so proud!